Team India’s preparations for the 2022 T20 World Cup are in full swing and the players are leaving no stone unturned before the high-octane match against Pakistan on October 23rd at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Former Indian cricketer Zaheer Khan made an important prediction to make for the Men in Blue. The legendary pacer feels that the Indian side is one of the contenders to make it to the finals.
However, it won’t be that easy because India is also without the presence of a couple of first-team players and other teams are also shaping up nicely. The Indian side suffered two major blows as pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and ace all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja were ruled out of the T20 World Cup 2022 Indian squad. The duo’s absence will be a big blow for India as they are among the best players in the world.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Zaheer Khan said: “Obviously, I’m going to go with India. Yes, there have been some talks of some key players, Bumrah being injured, and what’s going to happen with the bowling but still I feel with the consistency they’ve shown for the last few years, I think they are definitely going to be the contenders to be in the finals,”
He added: “The other contender, I feel, is England”
Team India has been in some great form lately and saw their recent-up game vs New Zealand get abandoned. They registered a win against Australia in their warm-up game on Monday. During the game, defending a target of 187 runs, a three-wicket haul by Mohammed Shami in the final over helped India bowl out Australia for 180 in 20 overs. Aaron Finch was in great form as he played a stunning knock of 76 runs off 54 balls but it went in vain.
Meanwhile, apart from Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar also bagged two wickets. Initially, India posted 186 for seven in 20 overs, with KL Rahul hammering 57 runs off 33 balls and Suryakumar Yadav slamming 50 runs off 33 deliveries. Kane Richardson was also seen in some blistering form as he picked up four wickets for the hosts.
In a video shared by BCCI, recently even Indian captain Rohit Sharma spoke about his team’s objective. He said: “It’s been a while since we have won the World Cup. Obviously. the motive and the whole thought process to win it but we know we need to do a lot of things right to get there so once step at a time for us. We can’t think too far ahead. You can’t really think about semis or final from now onwards. You need to focus on each time that you’re going to come again and prepare for that. Our focus will be on that and to make sure that we move in the right direction”
